Merry Christmas! April Fools!

MUG: Waechtersbach mug from W. Germany by way of Neiman-Marcus, dated 1985. All the usual accolades about its functionality and design apply, topped off by The Epicure Shop's ancient Greek epicurean logo, tarted up for Christmas.

COFFEE: Colombian Santander from Central Market WestGate... pretty much the only reason I will drive into Austin.

NOTE: The Epicure Shop at Neiman-Marcus, especially the one at NorthPark in Dallas (with the adjacent Little Mermaid Bar casual restaurant and bakery), was my introduction and education to fine food and food gadgets. Finding this pristine Waechtersbach mug in their trademark molten red glaze was a real treat for me. It is simply The-World's-Best-Coffee-Mug.

No foolin'.

Coffee with Fritz.

MUG: Generic, heavy, diner mug. No attribution as to manufacture or origin. Solid, and functional.

COFFEE: Generic, dark, coffee-shop coffee. No attribution as to roaster or origin. Solid, with decent flavor.

NOTES: Served with breakfast at Schilo's Delicatessen in San Antonio, Texas. Come here for the food. Pictured below is the Papa Fritz Breakfast Plate. Recommended.

Good to the last drop.

MUG: Café-style bowl mug. Made in China for Tuxton. Nice

COFFEE: Folgers Dark Roast, as served at La Villita Café (whose placard signs around La Villita declare "gourmet coffee").

NOTES: Actually pretty darn good. Surprisingly.

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Location: E Nueva,San Antonio,United States

Smoke on the water.

MUG: Not. Instead, it's a Glencairn whisky tasting glass.

COFFEE: Nope. Ardbeg 10 year old Islay single malt whisky.

NOTES: The sun has set. It's a feast day.

Groundcoffee Hog's Day

MUG: The 'Sainte Germain Collection' cup from Sur le Table featured below. As previously noted, it's made in China (what isn't?). It's a pleasant drinker, with a nice footed funnel shape. The decoration is attractive, somewhat reminiscent of classic 'restaurant/hotel' design.

COFFEE: Columbian Santander from Central Market Westgate. Medium-light roasted to perfection by Frank.

NOTES: Running short on coffee beans this morning, so I used a 'short' cup.

Mini MINI travel mug.

MUG: A 12 ounce (unusual size... more on that later) travel mug by Savor (Made in China... like every other consumer good in the USofA). It's a double-walled stainless steel mug (but not a vacuum design like a Yeti), as opposed to the stainless steel exterior/plastic interior design that's become more common (and cheaper). This one is sold by MINI dealers, and has a nice integrated 3D MINI logo inset on it.

COFFEE: Ethiopian Guji Shakiso from the Southgate Central Market. Light-roasted by Frank.

NOTES: The 12 ounce size is about the same volume as a standard coffee mug. In some ways, this makes more practical sense than does a 16, 18, or 20 ounce (like my Yeti Rambler... which also comes in a ridiculous 30 ounce size) travel mug. The realistic heat-retention for an 11 ounce mug is fine. I mean, you're gonna DRINK it now. Otherwise, you get a genuine Thermos, so you can drink it later.

The neat thing about this small-sized travel mug from MINI is that it clears the switch gear in the car. I can have coffee to drink and still roll down my windows, or turn on my fog lamps!

This travel mug was a gift from my new service adviser at MINI of Austin, Roy Myers.

Thanks, Roy! Very much appreciated.

Hot Dr Pepper.

MUG: A 'Sainte Germain Collection' cup from Sur le Table. Made in China, but a pleasant drinker in an attractive 'restaurant/hotel' design.

COFFEE: Not coffee, but a German mulled wine, Nurnberg Christkindl Glühwein.

NOTES: Served hot, sitting before the fireplace. It reminds me of drinking hot Dr Pepper with lemon as a kid. Damn fine living, even if I did forget the cinnamon sticks.

Coffee Dump.

MUG: Paper cup. Optional lid passed by. It's a paper cup, with plastic coating. There's not much else I can say.

COFFEE: Starbuck's Pikes Place medium roast coffee, brewed by a machine that grinds beans and forces water through the grinds into a holding tank, and then almost literally dumps the coffee into the cup. Whoosh! The stream you see pouring into the cup is the last bit from the reservoir.

I had my choice of three coffees (medium roast, medium roast de-caf, dark roast), or a hot chocolate. Or a blend of coffees (haf-caf). Not a bad quickie car dealership coffee.

NOTES: Another fun adventure at MINI of Austin. All's well that ends well.

Goodbye Kitty.

MUG: Waechtersbach (Germany) Christmas Cat Mug.

COFFEE: Colombian Santander via Central Market and Frank.

NOTES: The Twelve Days of Christmas come to an end today.

Recaffeinate! Recaffeinate!

MUG: Chinese-made ceramic shot cup.

COFFEE: A dalik-roast (Full City+) organic, Fair Trade, Colombian coffee from Redbud Roasters in San Marcos.

NOTES: A BBC-licensed Doctor Who espresso cup. This was a Christmas gift from my eldest daughter, along with some Schulenburg spicy peanuts, and some German Scho-Ka-Kola caffeinated dark chocolate wedges. Love that kid!

Santa Anna Claus

MUG: Chinese mug made for HEB. Poor quality novelty mug, but functional and fun.

COFFEE: La Popular Mexican hot cocoa, with added cocoa/chili.

NOTES: Merry Christmas from Texas!

T's for Texas.

MUG: Tumbler, plastic, 20 ounce ice tea glass.

COFFEE: Tea, Luzianne black tea.

NOTE: This is the standard way iced tea is served in Texas. As a child, before the days of 'sweet tea', I recall seeing hard-working construction workers and carpenters fill these tumblers 1/4 of the way up with "Quick dissolving Imperial Pure Cane sugar." After some flirtation with sugar, I grew up to be an 'unsweetened' fellow.

Pick me up.

 

MUG: Styrofoam cup. I understand that cockroaches and styrofoam cups are all that will survive the apocalypse.

COFFEE: Texas Select (?) blend from Ranch Road Roasters (?) in Fredericksburg, Texas. As served (and consumed) at Mahaley's Cafe. Decent coffee in a town not known for such.

NOTES: To get good light, I set the cup on the floor of the old gas station the restaurant occupies.

Motel Hell

MUG: Paper cup from the motel room. Printed down the side is the warning, "Do NOT Microwave!"

COFFEE: Kwikjava 'Premium Blend Fresh Roasted' from the Kwikcafe across the street.

NOTE: This is why I usually carry my own coffee making tools and pre-ground coffee on trips. I didn't for this overnight trip.

Another view. Original container:

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Location:Adams St,Fredericksburg,United States

This just about sums it up, don't you think?

MUG: Giant barrel-style mug (sixteen ounces), made in China for Home Essentials.

COFFEE: Not coffee, but Popular™ Mexican hot cocoa. In my opinion, it's the best of the type.

NOTE: I don't believe there's any point in discussing this post. The issue is settled.

Stealing Hope.

MUG: Cafeteria-style mug from the late 1960s, early 1970s. No manufacturer info, but a faint impression of "U.S.A." in large letters on the bottom. The imprinted logo decoration has faded badly. A really pleasant, if not stylish, drinker. Good weight, sturdy handle, and nice 'lip' feel.

COFFEE: The Las Mingas Caturra coffee from Colombia's Huila region. Roasted by Cuvee Coffee. Thankfully, they mail it out so I don't have to drive into hell to buy some.

NOTE: Paul Klipsch used to hand these to visitors in his office in Hope, Arkansas. He wouldn't tell them whether it was a gift or not, leaving his guests with a sense of discomfort. If you don't know who Paul W. Klipsch was, you should.

 

Game. Set. Match.

MUG: Spanish Waechtersbach, imprinted for the Art Institute of Chicago. As an artist/art historian friend of mine said (paraphrased), "The thing I like most about Modernism is the artists' signatures."

All the usual stellar attributes of the Waechtersbach cylinder mug... now in stylish black, with red accents.

COFFEE: Las Mingas from Cuvee Coffee. "Milk chocolate aroma, lavender and brown sugar. Creamy body with a whiskey and pear finish. Located in Nariño, a state in western Colombia, the Las Mingas farms sit at about 6500 feet above sea level. These 'fincas' (farms) are only about 3 acres on average, often bounded by steep cliffs and natural waterfalls. The coffee itself is often shade-grown under a natural canopy of plantain, orange, and guamos trees."

Another Caturra coffee from Colombia's Huila region. I like these coffees.

Farm: Las Mingas

Region: Las Platas Huila

Country: Colombia

Varietal: Caturra, Colombia

Altitude: 1900m

Process: Washed

NOTE: I think I now have the complete edition. Red, White, Blue, Grey, and now Black. Am I missing one?

Turkish Delight? No... and that's a good thing.

MUG: Food-service stoneware, as served at The Leaning Pear in nearby Wimberley. Generic, heavy. Nicely styled and durable. Perfectly suitable.

COFFEE: Redbud Roasters Organic Fair Trade Coffee. No clue as to what the coffee beans are, as the menu simply identifies the roaster. I asked, but the waitress was new and she didn't know It was really quite busy so I didn't want to push her. She said that customers liked it, and commented that it smelled and tasted like Turkish coffee. Of course, that wasn't even close to the reality. It had a slight burned odor, indicating a dark roast, but the brew strength and flavor were standard American drip. It was good enough that I ordered a refill. I wouldn't buy any for home use, though. But for dining al fresco on a cool morning, it was perfectly suitable.

NOTES: This excursion was a Hill-Country drive with the Austin Mini Cooper Car Club. 

Onward through the fog!

MUG: Diner mug of probably Chinese manufacture. The usable capacity is the standard 11 ounces. Great shape, thick handle, massive weight, and well-formed lip all make this a wonderful drinker. Tastefully adorned with the logo of a great culinary-arts supply shop, Der Kuchen Laden. It could come in handy should you need to crack open some nuts (or skulls) as well.

COFFEE: Upon further review, the ruling on the field has been reversed. The Colombian Santander from Central Market-Westgate, that I described below as "suddenly disappointing," tastes great today, with none of the 'burned' flavor I moaned about. Tasted great yesterday, too. Probably an allergy thing that made it taste burned for a while.

NOTES: A golf course rises though the fog where yesterday stood a lake.

Day of the Dead Coffee.

MUG: Chinese made imitation Mexican stoneware, designed in California (there's a lot compressed into that sentence).  The usable capacity is 12 ounces. Decent shape, good handle, well-formed lip all make this an OK drinker. It is made with that odd Chinese pottery construction that is lighter than its thickness would seem to dictate, which makes these type always seem somehow fragile. I found this mug among the abandoned mugs in the back of the break room cabinet at work.

COFFEE: The suddenly disappointing Colombian Santander from Central Market-Westgate. This used to be my daily coffee, but my last two purchases of this bean have indicated a shift towards a darker roasting profile. The former delicately rich subtleties have been replaced with that 'burned' flavor so popular with coffee drinkers. The coffee doesn't look to be a darker roast, but it sure tastes that way.

NOTES: I think this mug would make a better hot cocoa mug than coffee mug, or even a cappuccino mug. I now have something of a collection of Día de Muertos coffee mugs that i add to my other collections of things.

P.S. Happy Birthday, Tom R Moody III. Boo!